Extraction, characterization and antitumor effect of the polysaccharides from star anise (Illicium verum Hook. f.)

Polysaccharides production from star anise was carried out. The effects of extraction temperature, time, ratio of water to raw material and number of extraction were optimized by using an orthogonal L9(3)4 test design. The optimum extraction conditions were determined as follows: extraction temperature 100°C, time 4 h, number of cycle 2 and ratio of water to raw material at 11. Under optimized conditions, the experimental yield 10.50 ± 0.08% agreed closely with the predicted yield. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Infrared (IR) methods were used for qualitative and quantitative determination of the polysaccharides. HPLC analysis showed that the polysaccharides were composed of three kinds of monosaccharide, namely xylose, arabinose and glucose in molar ratios of 1:4.8:18.3. Pharmacological studies revealed star anise polysaccharides could inhibit the growth of Sarcoma 180 tumor in vivo . The tumor inhibition ratio of high dose polysaccharides (720 mg/kg) was 30.92%. No significant difference of spleen and thymus index was observed at three doses of the polysaccharides while compared with model control.